Sustainability Works

Water utilities across the country face common challenges - whether it is aging infrastructure, rising operating costs, high customer expectations, or a retiring workforce – and industry professionals are well aware that the “way we’ve always done it” may not have been our best approach.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published Moving Toward Sustainability: Sustainable and Effective Practices for Creating Your Own Water Utility Roadmap to assist utilities with implementing proven practices over time that address these common challenges at a pace consistent with the needs of the utility and the community it serves. The distinguishing quality of this document is its flexibility; it does not provide one roadmap for all utilities to follow, rather it guides utilities to create a roadmap based on their own specific needs.

Based on the Ten Attributes of Effective Utility Management (EUM), the document provides input from federal, state, and local stakeholders. Practical examples are provided throughout the document to help determine the utility’s current level of sustainability and are intended to give utility managers a sense of where to begin with creating their roadmap. This resource takes each of the ten attributes of effective utility management and breaks them down based on three business levels: Level 1 – Providing Adequate, Fundamental Services; Level 2 – Optimizing Operations and Services; and Level 3 – Transforming Operations and Services for the Future.

“This document will give an important boost to help move the water treatment industry toward greater sustainability and enhance the sustainability of communities as well,” said Dan Roberts, P.E., APWA member and Director of the Utilities Department for the City of Palm Bay, Florida. Mr. Roberts also served as a member of the EPA’s industry Steering Group that provided input for the document.

Mr. Roberts went on to say: “EUM is the key to sustainability, and EPA’s Roadmap document can be used by any size utility operating at any business level to improve EUM and thus community sustainability.”

As a service provider to the community, we should never be satisfied with “adequate” service, we should continually strive to improve and enhance our operations and services so that we will be able to thrive well into the future. Utilities can benefit from the practices described in this document by: saving money through optimization, providing better protection to the environment by consistently meeting regulatory requirements, recruiting and retaining a workforce to ensure sustainable operations, using energy and water efficient practices and technologies effectively, and building greater understanding and support from stakeholders.

President Obama signed into law the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), HR 3080, the first Water Resources bill enacted since 2007. The new law authorizes the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to construct projects for flood control, water navigation, storm damage reduction, beach nourishment, ecological restoration, water supply and dam and levee safety.

Key provisions include limiting feasibility studies for new projects to three years and streamlining the environmental review and permitting process. It also establishes a new pilot Water Infrastructure Finance Innovation Authority (WIFIA) to provide credit assistance to drinking water, wastewater and water resources projects and includes reforms to the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program.

In addition, the act establishes a new process for future bills to review and prioritize water resources development activities with strong Congressional oversight. It provides for increased expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to reduce the backlog of port and harbor projects and requires a review of possible ways to increase revenue collections for financing projects on the inland waterways.

The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the legislation. The vote in the Senate was 91-7 and 412-4 in the House of Representatives.

During the signing ceremony on June 10 the President praised Congress for coming together to pass the legislation in a bipartisan manner and urged lawmakers to pass a transportation bill before the highway trust fund becomes insolvent before the end of the summer.